Jerzy Kulej (19 October 1940 – 13 July 2012) was a Polish boxer and politician.

Kulej was born in Częstochowa, Poland. At the Summer Olympics in 1964 he won a gold medal in the Light welterweight division (<63.5 kg) defeating Yevgeni Vasilyevich Frolov. In 1968, he defended his title in a close match against a Cuban boxer Enrique Regüeiferos becoming the only Polish boxer to ever win two Olympic gold medals. He also twice won a gold medal at the European Amateur Championships in 1963 and 1965, and won a silver medal in 1967. He had a record of 317 wins, 6 draws and 25 losses.

In 1976, he made an appearance in a movie Przepraszam, czy tu biją? directed by Marek Piwowski. In 1995, he received the Aleksander Reksza Boxing Award.

In his later years he became a politician representing various parties over the time. In 2001, as a member of Democratic Left Alliance for electoral district of Warsaw he became a member of the Polish parliament (the Sejm) and server to 2005. He was a boxing commentator for Polish TV station Polsat Sport.

In December 2011, he suffered a massive heart attack. While in recovery, he learned that he suffered from an eye melanoma that was, in the end, the direct cause of his death in Warsaw on 13 July 2012 at the age of 71.

Olympic results

1964

• Round One – bye
• Round Two – Defeated Roberto Amaya (Argentina) 5–0
• Round Three – Defeated Richard McTaggart (Great Britain) 4–1
• Quarterfinal – Defeated Iosif Mihalic (Romania) 4–1
• Semifinal – Defeated Eddie Blay (Ghana) 5–0
• Final – Defeated Evgeni Frolov (Soviet Union) 5–0

1968

• Round One – bye
• Round Two – Defeated János Kajdi (Hungary) 3–2
• Round Three – Defeated Giambattista Capretti (Italy) 4–1
• Quarterfinals – Defeated Peter Tiepold (East Germany) 3–2
• Semifinals – Defeated Arto Nilsson (Finland) 5–0
• Final – Defeated Enrique Requeiferos (Cuba) 3–2